


A Congress of Bones

by needles



Series: Bokuaka Detective drabbles [21]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29246676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needles/pseuds/needles
Summary: Akaashi called him a prude. Bokuto insisted he wasn't, he just felt some things should be kept private. Sometimes however their cases had other ideas.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Series: Bokuaka Detective drabbles [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116251
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	A Congress of Bones

Bokuto looked again at the file at the bottom of his in tray. The one case that he really needed Akaashi’s help with and Akaashi had been barred from assisting on it. There was a slight chance Akaashi’s estranged father had been involved, though Bokuto found that highly improbable. Satoshi, for all his underworld connections, didn’t strike Bokuto as someone who would indulge in such an elaborate display of his victim. The only connection being the location of the find, a house Satoshi had once rented, albeit five years earlier. 

Sarukui had done his best, and he had got everything he could from the bones, but there was next to no other forensic evidence at the scene and the trail had run cold. Now it sat there laughing at him, mocking his inability to solve the case. 

Bokuto sighed and pulled the file out, looking again at the skeleton twisted into a hoop. What sort of perverted mind took the body of their victim and tied it up so the connective tissue held it in a loop even after the flesh had long since gone? Sarukui had found evidence of rodent predation on the bones but other than that, and a healed childhood fracture of the radius, there were no hints on the remains as to cause of death. They hadn’t even been able to ascertain identity despite Yukie’s best efforts. The dental work appeared to be European but from where they had no idea.

He wished he could ask Akaashi to look at the case but he knew doing so would compromise any evidence he found. He scribbled a note on the file and tossed it back into the pending pile for another 6 months.

His phone rang. It was Yamiji. Remains had been found inside an old office building being demolished for redevelopment, he needed Bokuto and Akaashi there as soon as possible. 

“Yes sir I’ll pick him up on my way there.”

“He can drive can’t he Bokuto? It’ll be quicker if he meets you there. I’m afraid I’ve got people breathing down my neck on this; the developer has ‘friends’ and they want the remains removed as quickly as possible before the press get wind of them.”

“Something odd about them Sir?” Bokuto asked, his curiosity piqued.

“You’ll see Bokuto, you’ll see, just get there soon.” Bokuto swore he heard a chuckle in Yamiji's voice.

“Yes Sir, on my way now. I’ll call Akaashi right away.”

He put the call through to his partner as he hurried out to his SUV.

“No Akaashi I don’t know what’s so special about them but Yamiji was very antsy about the press so just meet me there A.S.A.P.”

There was a query from the other end.

“As soon as possible, Akaashi! Yeah, another acronym you just learned. Ok, I’ll see you shortly.”

Bokuto arrived at the half demolished building before his partner and, donning a hard hat, followed the site manager to the old storeroom where the body had been found. Or rather bodies, two of them to be precise.

He had been staring at them in astonishment for around ten minutes when he heard his partner’s voice calling.

“In here Akaashi, watch your footing.”

He turned to watch Keiji stepping over demolition rubble in his jumpsuit and hard hat. Bokuto stood, his body blocking the doorway and Keiji’s view of the remains.

“Well let me see Bokuto san!” Keiji said, trying to squint around his large frame.

“Akaashi, before you go in there I want you to promise me that you will treat these remains with respect, the last case like this we had you disgraced yourself laughing at it in front of Yamiji, remember?”

“You mean the skeleton in a hoop? You know I was right when I said you’d never solve it without me. Don’t tell me we’ve got another one tied in a hoop?” Keiji’s mouth threatened to break into a grin.

“Not quite Akaashi but my gut is telling me there is a connection. Just promise me no laughing this time,” he begged.

“Very well, I promise to try and refrain from levity.” Keiji conceded, carefully schooling his expression into one of utmost seriousness. “Now let me get at the remains.”

Bokuto stepped to one side and waved him through. “All yours Akaashi. What do you make of that?”

Keiji stood looking at the two skeletons for a moment and Bokuto could see him pursing his lips tightly as his shoulders shook. Suddenly he let out a snort and turned burying his face in Bokuto’s shoulder and heaving with silent laughter against him.

Bokuto hugged him, trying to stifle the whimpering noises, and glanced frantically to either side to see if anyone was watching. Luckily, the coast was clear. “Akaashi!” he hissed, “No laughing, you promised!”

Keiji straightened himself up and looked at Bokuto; he could see tears glittering in his eyes. “I promised I’d try,” he said, wiping his tears away with his cuff. “I never guaranteed success.” He took a deep breath, then nodded. “I’m ok now.”

Bokuto let him go and he turned back to study the remains. One figure was apparently on hands and knees the other behind it. “I believe that’s what’s known as ‘The Union of the Cow’ Bokuto san,” Keiji announced.

Bokuto felt his face heating up. “That’s not what I’d call it. Are they…?”

“…Male and female? Yes Bokuto san.”

“I was going to say real bones Akaashi. Get your mind out of the gutter and back on the case.”

Keiji grinned. “They are indeed real bones. They also appear to have been in this position prior to decomposition.”

“Just like the body in a hoop?” Bokuto asked hopefully.

“Exactly, so I would agree there could be a link.” Keiji nodded.

“Then maybe we can catch the killer this time Akaashi?”

“Of course we will.” Keiji smiled at his partner; he knew that one unsolved case rankled with him. 

“What makes you so sure Akaashi?”

“One; I’m dealing with it this time, and two; this small titanium plate on the man’s tibia where he has clearly suffered a compound fracture in the past. We should be able to trace the serial number and obtain an identity.”

“And once we know who the victim is…” Bokuto nodded, understanding. “Tell me just one thing Akaashi, how long have these two been here?”

Keiji thought for a moment or two. “Probably at least three years to reach this state.”

Bokuto gave a sigh of relief. “So they were dead before we found the last body? I would really hate to think they had died because I couldn’t solve that case.”

“Indeed Bokuto san, they were already long dead then, you have nothing to reproach yourself for there.” He reassured him, knowing how he took every case personally. 

“So have you seen enough Akaashi, can we move them?”

“Yes, but it needs to be done with extreme care.”

“I know Akaashi. Can we cover them up?”

“Why?”

“Akaashi, it’s embarrassing!” Bokuto hissed.

“Not for them they’re dead.”

“Respect Akaashi, respect, please. Besides Yamiji doesn’t want the press to find out, can you imagine the headlines?”

Keiji smiled. “Very well Bokuto san, but make sure they use something sterile and lint free, I don’t want fibres shed all over the remains.”

Six months later thanks to the ID, and some distinctive indentations Keiji discovered on one of the skulls which led them to a murder weapon, they were able to arrest the killer. He confessed to murdering two former girlfriends and the lovers they had cheated on him with. From his information a fourth skeleton was found, this time twisted into a tight knot that Keiji identified as a full Noose yoga pose.

Bokuto was finally able to mark the file on the body in a hoop closed, and he smiled as he put it at long last into his out tray.


End file.
